The Red Hat Society visits by The Ad Group & Falls Ridge Apartments in the Historic Oriskany Falls School.

Things have changed a little since the last time the women of the Red Hat Society roamed the halls of the Oriskany Falls Highschool.

Where some once sat for class is now a quaintly decorated apartment for elderly residents. The main office now hosts a recording studio, complete with sound panels and a green screen. The once dusty tech shop is now filled with graphic designers, seated behind shiny new computers and bright monitors.

Members of the Red Hat Society saw the difference first hand on their recent tour of the building. Hosted by the charismatic, if not a little long winded, owner and makeshift tour guide David Bean, the group of twelve explored the school grounds. While much of the building is in the process of renovation, not everything has changed.

Portions of the school remain dusty but intact, like the old gynasium. A highlight of the tour, the old basketball court and stage still retains some of it’s prior charm. The massive wood trim surrounding the stage remains along with the frames of the bleachers once packed with fans. The Indian emblem is still on the floor, patched in a few places where standing water once buckled the floor.

It needs work, but there’s hope. “Eventually”, says Dave, “this will be the new home of The Ad Group. He hopes to relocate his advertising agency, which currently resides in the second floor, into the soon-to-be renovated gym.

“It’s nice to see this kind of reinvestment in the community,” remarked one of the touring Red Hatters. As another said, “There’s always going to be history here.”